Page 5 of Mr. Flirt

She beamed. “Thank you. I hoped you’d make it.”

I smiled, noticing her eyeing the bag under the table. “I’d never miss your birthday.”

Mae was my younger sister by four years, but when our parents divorced, she was twelve and I was sixteen. Since my mom suddenly got thrust back into the working world, I took care of Mae more often than my mom. Rather than being best friends like some sisters, our relationship turned maternal. I had this incessant need to take care of her.

“Did you have a good day at the firm?” my sister asked, taking a sip of her pink drink. “You look more stressed than usual.”

I had less than thirty minutes to wish my sister a happy birthday, dash out to my car parked a block away, drive to the hospital at the other end of Seattle, find parking in a cramped garage, and race to the labor and delivery unit.

I nodded. “Just another day in paradise, and Danni is about to pop,” I teased, glancing around the bar. “Sorry I’m late. I got stuck behind the Beagle Parade.”

Seattle seemed to have a parade for everything.

Mae laughed and held up her martini glass. “I didn’t even notice. Plus, whatever is inside that bag makes up for it, I’m sure.”

“Oh, Mae. Who is this sexy hunk coming our way?” one of her friends gushed.

“You mean the Greek God with blond hair and sapphire blue eyes that make me want to—”

I tuned out the other friend and grinned as anxiety inched through my system. I’d barely warmed the seat, but I had to go. I could not miss the birth of my BFF’s first child.

My sister hiccuped in response, and I knew now was my time to exit.

When I saw a bartender start this way with a tray full of drinks, I grabbed my purse and blew my sister a kiss. She batted her lashes at me.

“Off to deliver a baby.”

“From law school to doula.” Mae laughed without taking her eyes off the bartender. “Not bad for an older sister. Make sure she has her baby tonight, and then we can be birthday twins.”

“I’ll try to have her work on that,” I teased. “Happy Birthday.”

The moment I stepped outside and felt the chilly air blast my cheeks, I got a sudden surge of adrenaline. Today felt like a whirlwind, and the crazy part hadn’t even happened yet.

I could do this.

My best friend needed me, and I was honored to be part of the biggest day in her life.

And since her husband took off with the neighbor’s wife six weeks ago, there wasn’t a way in the world I was going to let my girl go at this alone.

After Danielle walked in on her husband in the laundry room with someone who wasn’t her, I was shocked that Danni didn’t go into immediate labor. However, she managed to smack the ironing board on his head before she waddled out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom, where she collapsed on the bed and cried herself to sleep.

The thought of my best friend having that happen to her at such a delicate time made me look askance at any man in a bar, grocery store, or sporting event.

As I climbed into my car and pulled onto the road taking me to Danni, I thought about what was ahead. Not just in the here and now for Danni, but once her little one was born. Since she’d married Bill, she’d quit working and played the perfect housewife, and now I had no idea what she was going to do.

I clutched the steering wheel as I thought about what I’d like to do to the guy if I saw him, but thankfully, I represented Danni in her upcoming divorce. I was confident she wouldn’t have to worry about finances just yet. We lived in a community property state, and I would make Bill pay in ways he’d never dreamed.

The thought made me so tickled that I almost drove by the hospital’s entrance and had to make a hard turn. I glanced at the radio and saw that I had less than ten minutes to get to her.

“Come on, Lucy,” I whispered to myself. “You can do this.”

My luck suddenly changed for the day, and a parking spot opened right up by the elevator.

Within minutes, I was checked in at security for the labor and delivery ward and flew down the corridor, hearing distant moans and groans.

My uterus went into shock as screeching wrapped around me when I found Danni’s room. I breathed a sigh of relief when I knocked on the door and heard a faint hello from inside.

I stepped into the room and opened the curtain to see my best friend looking like she was ready to pull the baby out herself, and I knew I was in for it.

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